Thursday, March 25, 2010

Welcome to Humanity, this is hour 1

Humanity, Auf wiedersehen, it’s time to say goodbyeThe party’s over as the laughter diesAn angel cries

It’s hard to be a fan of the hard rock and metal bands of the 80s. Heavy metal, Hair Metal, 80’s Metal, Melodic Rock, call it what you want, it’s still rock n roll to me. It is when I really got into music. Though I was given AC/DC’s Back in Black when I was in 8th grade, the guitars and drums never really got into my blood until I was in college. There was some guitars jamming in my brain but it was more radio friendly music though. It was where I got caught hooked on the rifts from Night Ranger, a band I still love and will travel to see today. Motley Crue finally caught my attention in college. Soon the Scorpions, Ratt, Dokken, and Def Leppard records would be purchased. Yep, good old vinyl!

The following year I caught Anthrax and couldn’t get enough. Metallica followed. Yep, I dug Anthrax before getting into Metallica. Though I still enjoy both I would rather listen to and go see Anthrax over Metallica any day. Slayer would not follow for another decade.

It is still the 80s hard rock and metal that is in my soul. It feels like a special treat to be able to catch any of them in concert nowadays. Last year’s Judas Priest and Night Ranger shows were great. This year, I get the chance to see a band I haven’t seen in over 20 years. The Scorpions are playing at Summerfest this year as they embark on their farewell tour.

The lyrics above come from the song Humanity on the Humanity Hour 1 disc. It is an album that I have been listening to again since hearing of the concert. I think the music really describes what a lot of these bands go through. Look at what has been listed so far. Night Ranger, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, the Scorpions, Ratt, Dokken, Anthrax, Metallica and Slayer. Of all these bands, only one, Dokken, is not putting out original music. Ratt could have been on the list but they just got back together for new music.The point is that one has to be honest. Of all the music that these bands have put out over the past couple years, a good amount of it has been shit. Last year was different. The Motley Crue and Metallica albums were really good. Solid. But before that was the Scorpions Humanity Hour 1 disc that went basically unnoticed. It got my attention from the very beginning and held it. The Scorps have a new disc out this year. Sting in the Tail. It feels like the exact opposite of Humanity. There was barely anything that wanted me to listen again.

Too many discs from the bands of the 80s have been like that. Motley discs like Tattoo and Generation Swine were ok but had too many crap songs in between. Def Leppard failed with X while St. Anger caused Metallica fans nothing but anger. Finding good music from bands in the past became nearly impossible. That seems to have changed.

Now I will get a chance to see the Scorpions before they hang them up. Hearing Klaus Meine scream MIL WAAAAA KAAAAYYYYYY THERE IS NO ONE LIKE YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!! will make me happy this summer. Its only 99 days away.